


for you are everywhere

by ivelostmyspectacles



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Meetings, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Inspired by Fanart, M/M, Sign Language, The Shape of Water AU, mute character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 08:56:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15860391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivelostmyspectacles/pseuds/ivelostmyspectacles
Summary: The creature stared, and stared, floating suspended in the water of its tank. Silver hair floated lazily away from its face, exposing pale lips and sharpened teeth. It opened its mouth and rumbled, and then raised its blackened hand to move its fingers.[RavNoct, Shape of Water AU]





	for you are everywhere

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Farewell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Farewell/gifts).



> [Inspired by soulmarshal's artwork, found here!](http://soulmarshal.tumblr.com/post/170579523241/some-sort-of-the-shape-of-water-au-based-on-a)

There were worse things in life, he’d been told, although Noctis found himself hard pressed to find them. Trust assured that he had been threatened with them, though, day in and day out, for the past twelve years that he had been subject to the experimentation brought down upon him after that terrible day in Tenebrae.

He could barely even remember that day, really. His father had taken him to the kingdom in hopes of recuperating after the marilith attack… only to have been dropped into another, more deadly kind from Niflheim. He had been young, and in pain, and missing home– numb, even– and he had watched Luna be swallowed up by a throng of soldiers, and then he had been torn away from his father’s arms in much the same way. And that was all he really remembered.

When he had come to, he’d been imprisoned in a tiny cell, eight by eight if that, in darkness and confusion. No one had come for him, a prisoner of war that was unable to be found… if anyone had even been looking.

No, he had figured his father had been. He had figured the kingdom had been. It wasn’t until just recently had he learned that his father was dead, his kingdom had been taken under imperial control, and that he, should the name Lucis Caelum mean anything to anyone any longer, was the rightful, chosen king.

But then… his name _didn’t_ mean anything any longer. A fact that had been impressed upon since he had actively started undergoing experimentation.

It wasn’t always bad, that. But when it was… there were scars on his back from the marilith attack, and there were scars across his body to match. Noctis rubbed against the three that had scored deep along his throat, and continued his task of cleaning the lab.

It was only recently he had been allowed away from his cell for an extended time; after twelve years, he’d heard them say, and a broken kingdom with no king, Noctis had nowhere to go. Even if he did, he didn’t know where he was, or how to get home. And… from what he’d heard… he didn’t have that, anyway.

And so he had nowhere to run, nowhere to escape to, and they had allowed him freedom around the laboratories provided he wasn’t due for a test session. He had learned to stop trying to avoid those as well, so long ago.

“You–” Someone barked the command at him and Noct straightened up, spine popping and back aching. “Clean this lot up! Astrals fucking _hell–”_

Interesting. He wasn’t usually the one who had to clean up after test sessions, seeing as how he was an active participant himself. They kept the element of surprise, and Noctis was never allowed in the experimentation room until it was his time. Something must have gone wrong.

He didn’t want to know. He just didn’t want it to go wrong with _him._ The gods knew he’d been cut, hit, slapped, and injected with more things than he could count– or likely remember– things that had made him so sick or strong, but briefly, only briefly. There was never real reprieve for the pain that lingered in his body, the exhaustion that was Crystal-caused even though the kingdom was no more. Sometimes, he enjoyed the days of torture, if only their serums worked and he could have a night without the pain. Even better if he had a dreamless night, instead.

So, he merely nodded in return and whisked past, head down. The rusted metal of manacles heavy on his wrists as he gathered up a mop and bucket; it was magitek technology, he’d been told. They were emblazoned with imperial design, old but not forgotten. He had been told they were to prevent him from leaving. He hadn’t bothered to try and see what they could do to stop him.

He was subservient. After all, as they kept telling him, he had nowhere he could go.

Part of him wondered if Luna was here. If she was safe. Part of him wondered if Ignis had been in Insomnia when it fell, and if he was alive. But those were parts he hadn’t let himself think about since he had been young, and a part that was unimportant to cleaning up the blood staining the floor currently.

There were bigger things to worry about. A shudder crawled up Noctis’s spine as he started to mop up the mess left from the latest test subject. He would brace for pain tonight.

There was a noise, sudden and sharp, like bone against glass and he cringed, barely daring to raise his eyes in case this was just another test for _him–_ but no. It was something else, something new; a cylindrical tank set upright at the end of the room. It was full of water, and as Noctis hesitated with his knuckles white around the mop, he could see something vaguely moving in it.

It could still be a test. Another experiment. But his interest was piqued, and Noct slowly edged across the room towards the tank. His shoes splashed in the spilled water and congealing blood as he came to a careful stop in front of it, eyebrows drawn. Seeing something weird wasn’t uncommon here– he’d seen a lot, far more than he’d ever thought possible– so he didn’t know what he was looking for now. Not human. Not like him–

The body that slammed into the glass _looked_ vaguely human, though, in the split second glance Noctis caught before he fell backwards in surprise. Aquatic and human both, split fins and scales on skin but a _face,_ hair, _eyes._ They were blue and purple, and angry, blazing… softening as they fell on Noctis, blood soaking into tattered clothes as he was still sprawled on the ground.

And daemon. It looked daemon.

He had seen enough of them to know; they came and went in waves, here, made and released from the keep for whatever grand design Niflheim was trying to accomplish. And this… _creature_ looked at least half so, the left side of his body blackened and stiff. Daemon horns and clawed fingers, sharp enough Noctis half expected them to slice through the reinforced glass as that hand pressed against the tank. They didn’t, of course, and this human… amphibian… _daemon…_ merely looked… inquisitive.

Noctis ought to be afraid. Just then, he was not.

A tilt of his head, and he stared back at the creature for a long moment. Held up a finger and then slowly pointed it to him, as though it possessed the capability of communicating with him– _what are you?_

There was no response forthcoming, just as expected. The creature stared, and stared, floating suspended in the water of its tank. Silver hair floated lazily away from its face, exposing pale lips and sharpened teeth. It opened its mouth and rumbled, and then raised its blackened hand to move its fingers.

It could sign. It could understand him.

_R… a… v… u… s…_

The spelling was unmistakable. A name, but not an answer. Then again, _what_ this Ravus was probably didn’t matter. What were any of them, at this given point.

Noctis raised a finger to the tip of his nose, shifted that hand to the side of his chest. Spelled out his own name, and held his breath as he waited.

_My name is Noctis._

The creature tilted its head, hair framing its face like so much seaweed in the ocean. It was… endearing, in a way, Noct thought, and then there was a noise from outside of the lab.

Ravus flitted away from the front of the tank and Noctis scrambled to collect his forgotten things. His heart was pounding, lodged somewhere in his silent throat, as he went back to cleaning the room.

When he glanced over his shoulder again, Ravus was still gone, but Noct thought he could feel his presence within the room, anyway.

 

_unable to perceive the shape of_ _you_ _,_  
_i find you all around me._  
_your presence fills my eyes with your love,_  
_it humbles my heart,_ _  
_ _for you are_ everywhere

 

**Author's Note:**

> I went and cranked this out really fast without putting probably near enough thought into what it should be, but it deserves time and love I can't put into it right now so ignore any inconsistencies!! anyway... I love the shape of water... and ravnoct... and rav being the only thing in zegnautus that can communicate with noct because unlike elisa, he doesn't have a zelda... T_T i have feels okay


End file.
